In recent years, various types of printing devices have become popular for both business and consumer use. In addition to traditional black and white printers, color printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, and other components are now common. Multi-function peripherals (MFPs), that support two or more of these functions, are also widely available. Among other functions, these devices are used to process image data.
The processing of image data may include, for instance, compressing and encoding operations, and/or decompressing and decoding operations. One example image processing technology is defined by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) standard. Generally, a JPEG encoding process of image data includes spatial frequency conversion, quantization, data sequencing, and entropy encoding; and a JPEG decoding process of image data includes an inverse of the JPEG encoding processes, such as entropy decoding, inverse data sequencing, de-quantization, and inverse spatial frequency conversion.
It is desirable to improve on the arrangements of conventional methods and systems or at least to provide one or more useful alternatives to help to make data processing more efficient, reliable, and faster.